Not Quite Dating (17 page)

Damn, he wasn’t any further along in what he was supposed to do now than he was three hours ago. Jessie had turned him down. Maybe he should walk away. Give her what she wanted.

After brushing Dancer down, he turned him into his paddock and gave him a bucket of oats for his workout. The horse nudged his shoulder as if to say thanks.

As he was walking from the barn, Jack’s phone rang. Reception was spotty, so he stood still and took the call.

“This is Jack,” he answered, not recognizing the number.

“Mr. Morrison, this is Phil Gravis from Toyota.”

The car…He’d nearly forgotten about it.

“Hello, Mr. Gravis.”

“I wanted to tell you that everything went smoothly. Ms. Mann picked out a nice crossover that should serve her well for many years.”

“Good.” At least she wouldn’t be walking home from her dates. The thought of her with another man shot fire to his eyes. “No questions from her?”

“No, she seemed
a little preoccupied through the entire process. Her sister seemed to be more suspicious.”

“Monica is sharp.”

“No argument there. She had to talk Ms. Mann out of taking a truck, which I thought was strange for a lady.”

Jack lifted his head, suddenly felt a chill race up his spine. “A truck?”

“Yeah, she kept peeking inside the bigger ones we have on the lot.”

“The bigger ones?”
Why would Jessie want a truck?

“What does a woman like her need with a truck? She lives in an apartment.”

“An apartment.” Jack’s mind went fuzzy. Jessie wouldn’t need a truck. But broke Jack had an old, beat-up pickup.

“Are you there, Mr. Morrison?” Mr. Gravis asked.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“She did ask if there was a possibility of switching the car for the truck within a couple of weeks, or five hundred miles. I didn’t know what to say to her. You said to let her pick out what she wanted, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted to pay the depreciation on one vehicle if she did bring the crossover back.”

A slow smile started at one edge of his mouth and spread to the other.

“Mr. Morrison?”

“Sorry, Mr. Gravis. I think Jessie’s preoccupied mind is contagious. Don’t worry about her bringing the car back. I have a feeling she’ll be keeping it.”

Jessie would give up a new car, something she desperately needed, to put him in a new truck. Or maybe she was thinking
them
…they could use a truck. “Thanks again, Mr. Gravis.”

“You’re welcome. It was fun. I felt like Santa giving away a car to an unsuspecting woman.”

Jack disconnected the call and walked
a little faster to the house.

Beth, the housekeeper and cook, scolded him about taking his boots off before he “walked through her clean house.” The familiar rant made him smile even more.

“You may have been gone a long time, but the rules around here haven’t changed,” Beth said, waving her finger at him from the kitchen sink. Part of the reason the Morrison money didn’t shoot to Jack’s head was because his father employed down-to-earth people like Beth.

A few strong pulls and the boots found their way under a bench in the mudroom. “I see you’re just as feisty as ever,” he teased.

Beth, somewhere in her late sixties, graced him with a smile of her own. “I see your ride did you good. It’s nice to see you smile.”

Jack walked over to her and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“What on earth was that for?”

“For everything you do. I don’t think I’ve said thank you enough.”

Beth crossed her hands over her chest and narrowed her eyes. “Have you been drinking?”

Jack tossed his head back, laughing. “Not today. Do you know where Katie is?”

“I think she’s in the den, fiddling with the Christmas tree.”

One more kiss and a wink and Jack went to search for his sister. Sure enough, she was in the process of rearranging the tree ornaments to her liking. Dressed in a big sweater and blue jeans, Katie looked more like the sister he’d grown up with. The flashy-dressing Katie never did sit well with him.

“Jessie picked out a truck,” he blurted out, startling his sister.

“What?”

“A truck. Well, actually she ended up with a car or crossover, but she looked at trucks.”

Katie sat the ornament in her hand
down. “Is that supposed to mean something to me? Cuz I have to tell you, it doesn’t.”

Jack grasped Katie’s shoulders. “Why would a woman who lives in an apartment and works as a waitress want to buy a truck?”

“I don’t think she would unless her husband pushed it. Seems all you guys need to have your trucks.”

“Exactly.” Jack pulled his sister close and hugged her hard. “I’ve got to go.”

Katie smiled. “Oh yeah? Where to?”

“You know where I’m going. I’ll need to do some shopping first. Can you run interference with Dad? He’s going to be ticked when he gets here and I’m gone.”

With sure hands, Katie turned him around and pushed him toward the door. “Don’t you worry about Dad. Just get back there and fix it. Don’t mess it up this time.”

Heartbroken
didn’t describe the pain in her chest nearly enough. Every day was an effort. Jessie scolded herself for the umpteenth time. “I shouldn’t have driven him away.”

“You’re talking to yourself again,” Monica called from the living room.

“She’s been doing that a lot,” Danny said.

Monica and Danny were making handmade cards to send out. Danny drew a picture, and Monica signed the inside with all their names. It was a tradition the three of them had started the first Christmas Danny could scribble on paper.

“I’m not talking to myself.”

“Really? Is there someone in the kitchen we can’t see from here?” Monica chuckled when she asked.

“You’re gonna end up with coal in your stocking, Mo.”

Danny laughed.

Jessie stirred the stew simmering on the stove
and turned the heat down.

A loud knock on the door brought all six eyes to it. Monica glanced at her watch. “Expecting anyone?”

“Nope.”

Jessie walked to the door, wiping her hands on the apron around her waist. Through the peephole, she saw a red box.

“Who is it?”

“Delivery.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Jessie opened the door.

In front of her was a set of hands full of beautifully wrapped gifts connected to a pair of jeans and cowboy boots.

Her lips started to tremble.

“Ho, ho, ho.” Jack walked into her apartment as if he’d only been gone a few hours instead of nearly a week.

“Jack!” Danny bounced to his feet and ran to Jack’s side. He wrapped his arms around Jack’s leg and nearly caused him to spill the presents in his hands.

“Howdy, partner.”

Monica found her feet and started removing the load from Jack’s hands. “Here, let me help you.”

“Thanks.” Jack hugged Danny with a free hand.

Jessie stood anchored to one spot on the floor, afraid to move.

“Where have you been?” Danny asked. “We missed you.”

Jack knelt down at Danny’s level after setting the last of the boxes on the table. “I missed you, too.”

“Mommy cried.” Oh boy, nothing like a five-year-old to blast out the truth.

“She did?” Jack turned his gaze to her and gave a wan smile. “I’m sorry about that. Maybe I can make it up.”

“What is all this?” Danny dropped to the floor and started to read the names on the presents. “This one’s for me?” Silver paper and a huge green bow adorned the
box. Danny shook the thing for dear life.

The sight brought fresh tears to Jessie’s eyes.

All eyes were on Danny. “There is one for you, Auntie Monica. And another one for me.” He beamed. “Look, Mom, one for you.”

Jessie sucked in her lip and bit it. “You didn’t have to do this,” she said.

Jack stood and ruffled the hair on Danny’s head. “I wanted to.”

Monica walked to Jessie’s side. “Are you OK?”

Jessie nodded. The happiness of seeing Jack shifted to the growing concern of what would happen next. Did he want to go back to being friends? Could she be
only
friends?

“Hey, Danny? How about you and I go to the park and bring candy canes to all your friends?”

Danny glanced between Jack and Monica with uncertainty.

“Are you going to be here when I come back?” he asked Jack.

Jack’s eyes leveled with Jessie’s. “I’d like to be.”

What did that mean?

“Come on, little dude. Let’s give Jack and your mom some time to talk.” Monica walked over to the closet and removed his coat.

Before they both walked out the door, Monica asked, “Are you sure you’re OK?”

Jessie waved her off.

Once the door closed, the room grew silent.

“Danny looks a lot better than the last time I saw him,” Jack said, removing his cowboy hat from his head. He looked good. Maybe a little tired, but good.

“He was sick for a few days. Nothing worse than the night in the hospital.”

“Good. I’m glad.” And nervous, from the way he kept shifting from foot to foot.

“You didn’t need to do all this.” Jessie waved her hands at the gifts that filled the empty spaces around their
Christmas tree.

“I wanted to,” he repeated.

Their eyes settled on the tree as painful silence stretched between them.

“Jack.”

“Jessie,” they both said together, and then laughed.

“Why don’t we sit down,” she suggested. “Can I get you something to drink?”

He shook his head and waited for her to sit before he took his seat opposite her.

“I’ve made such a mess of things, Jessie.” Jack leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

“You didn’t do it alone.”

His eyes traveled to the floor. “Is what Danny said true? Did you cry?”

“Women are emotional creatures.”

“I hate the thought of you crying over me.”

Jessie sat taller. “I was afraid I’d driven you away forever. We’ve kinda gotten used to you being around here. Danny hasn’t stopped asking where you are.”

“Did
you
miss me?”

She swallowed hard and delivered the truth. “More than you would believe.”

Jack smiled. “I can believe a lot of things. Like I believe that if I’d waited to ask you to marry me, maybe you’d have said yes. But no, I had to jump in, both feet, and have you turn me down.”

“You scared me, Jack.”

“Why?”

Why?
Good question, one she’d been considering night and day since he left. “I was afraid of loving you. Of what would become of us if I allowed myself to depend on you. I’ve been doing this alone for a lot of years, and I’d love to share the burden, but I
didn’t think that was fair to you.”

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but she halted him with a hand.

“Wait, I’m not done. Sometimes, when you love someone, you need to do what’s best for them. Doing what’s best isn’t always the easiest thing. I thought you’d have a better shot at all the things you want in your life if you didn’t have Danny and me dragging you down.”

When Jessie looked, she saw Jack staring at her with his mouth dropped open. “You said no because you love me?”

A tear ran down her cheek. “I said no because Danny and I both love you. Having you walk out of our life one day when you want to pursue your dreams would hurt more than saying good-bye now. At least, that’s what I thought last week.”

Jack stood, knelt down in front of her, and grasped her hands. “Do you feel the same thing this week?”

“No. This week I was miserable, desperately wishing you wouldn’t take my rejection and you’d come back.”

Jack lifted his hands to her face and rubbed away the tears with his thumbs. Leaning forward, he brought his lips to hers.

She cried against his lips and crushed him closer. Jack was there, kissing her, mending the pain in her chest that had settled there like a rock.

He leaned her back and covered her with his weight. His lips moved over hers; his hands kneaded her hair. When he pulled away, Jessie’s breath was shallow and uneven.

“I came back, Jessie. I’m not going anywhere.”

Jessie pulled him down and kissed him hard.

His hands left her hair and ran down her waist. She wanted him, loved him more than she could express. If he were to ask her to marry him all over again, she’d jump at the opportunity of being Mrs. Jack Moore. There was more to life
than money. The caring, thoughtful, and honest man in her arms meant more than any amount of money could.

“Make love to me, Jack,” she told him between kisses.

His heated eyes stared down at her. The weight in his jeans spoke of his desire. “What about your sister and Danny?”

Monica wouldn’t rush home. “They’ll be gone long enough for make-up sex.”

“Make-up loving,” Jack corrected her.

Jessie laughed for the first time in a week.

Lifting her in his arms, Jack walked her to her bedroom and kicked the door shut. Jessie picked at the buttons of his shirt as he set her down on the bed.

The expanse of his chest was open to her view. Strong, powerful. “You’re beautiful,” she told him.

“Don’t go telling my friends that. Texan cowboys are handsome, rugged, but never beautiful.”

Jessie stripped his shirt completely away and tossed it to the floor. Jack was working on her apron and then her jeans. “You’re handsome and rugged, too. But so beautiful.” She ran her hands down his hips and tugged at the opening of his pants.